Jug Handle Ecological Staircase-Mendocino
(scroll to bottom for photo gallery)
Location: Jug Handle State Natural Reserve, Adjacent to Hwy. 1, one mile north of Caspar (between the towns of Mendocino and Fort Bragg)
Starting Point: Jug Handle State Natural Reserve parking area, find trailhead sign
Info links:
For all web links, if a link doesn’t jump directly, copy and paste into browser.
Jug Handle State Natural Reserve information link (California State Parks):
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=441
Directions to Jug Handle State Natural Reserve link (California State Parks):
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=441
Jug Handle State Natural Reserve brochure link (California State Parks):
https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/441/files/JugHandleSNRFinalWebLayout2017.pdf
Map link:
Jug Handle Ecological Staircase Trail Map and Self Guided Nature Trail link (California State Parks):
https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/441/files/Jughandle_Brochuretas2016A.pdf
Distance:
The Jug Handle Ecological Staircase trail to the pygmy forest boardwalk is 2.5 miles. That means 2.5 miles back as well, for a total of 5 miles. We misread the brochure and sign info to think it was 2.5 miles round trip. Big difference!
Considerations:
• There is a disability accessible portable toilet at trailhead parking.
• Grab a trail map or Jug Handle info brochure if available, ahead of time if in a nearby town where travel brochures are on hand
• The self guided nature trail has numbered markers featuring trail highlights, but there were no trail guides available when we checked the bin at the start of our hike. Download the guide from the link above ahead of time if possible.
• Dogs are also allowed on the short headlands trail, but not on the beach or trails east of the bridge
• Pay attention to health and safety signs, including wildlife information signs.
• Always have sun protection and water
• Trail can be very muddy in wet season. Wear appropriate footwear and clothes.
• Trailhead sign says 0.5 miles for the headlands loop, and 2.5 miles for the ecological staircase. That means 2.5 miles in, and 2.5 miles out for a 5 mile round trip to do the full hike to the pygmy forest boardwalk area.
The trail:
The Jug Handle Ecological Staircase features a fascinating walk through geological history over five terraces, each representing 100,000 years of earth’s history. Hikers walk through varying mixtures of wetlands and north coast bluff scrub, Bishop pine forest, riparian river habitat, grand fir forest, coast redwood forest, and pygmy forest. Check the info links above for the more in-depth description.
There are good info signs at the parking lot, and brochures and trail guides are on offer in bins, but were empty on our visit. If one is available, take it for your hike and return it for others if you don’t need it. You can download the guide from the link above ahead of time (wish we had!).
Take the trail marked as 2.5 miles for the ecological staircase, but remember it’s 2.5 miles in, and another 2.5 miles back for a total of 5 miles. We misinterpreted the brochure and trailhead info initially and thought we were heading out for a 2.5 mile total.
The initial walk passes through some tree cover, including some photogenic tree tunnels. Watch for the trail marker that directs walkers to Jug Handle Beach, a sharp drop to the left as you’re facing the bridge that rises above the beach away from the ocean. The ecological staircase hike continues forward.
Walk under the bridge and continue on the trail. There’s a point where the trail breaks off to the left with a steep wooden staircase heading downward, or continues branching right. We took the right branch and hit a Private Property sign. Turns out you have to walk down the steep wooden staircase to get to the lower end of the natural ecological “staircase” of geological era terraces.
One of the early highlights on the hike is the footbridge in the riparian habitat area, with a lush sense of trees reflecting on water in an overgrown, enclosed environment. There are good informational signs about the riparian section here. A bit of a rising trail from here takes hikers onto a more open stretch of trail.
There are gradual changes from pine to fir and then redwood featured along the woodsy forest path that leads hikers to an open space under power lines. From the power lines there are a lot more redwoods for quite a stretch.
Hikers passing us on their return told us to keep a sense of the trail as there is a spot where hikers sometimes follow a wrong split in the trail, and it is not well marked. Even without the trail guide or map, we managed to follow the most well-travelled trail and did not go off track. Informational signs about the redwood forest, as well as the numbered markers for those following the self-guided nature trail indicate you’re on the main trail.
Eventually, the soft trail underfoot starts to turn pale and hard. This is where the soil became hardened and highly acidic, too harsh for healthy plant growth, thus leading to the stunted growth of the pygmy forest.
There are signs directing hikers to the boardwalk, which guides walkers through a significant section of the pygmy forest. Keep these signs and the intersecting service road in your mind for the return trip. One sign promises better trail signs coming soon, but keep your directional head on straight for a smooth return.
There is a handy resting and viewing area with more informational signs right in the heart of the pygmy forest area along the boardwalk.
After a water break on our hot sunny visit day, we enjoyed walking through the rest of the pygmy forest boardwalk. There’s a sense of walking through a bonsai tree forest, and the hard white ground gives an otherworldly feel to this area.
Once at the end of the boardwalk, a sign steers hikers back to the trail leading back. The redwoods, pine and fir were just as lovely going back, under different light from when we started, and the riparian habitat was a refreshing reminder that we were getting close to the trailhead again.
We saw families with fairly young kids doing this five-mile hike, and other than the initial stairs and a couple of sharper rises, this ecological “staircase” is a fairly smooth walk with gradual rises, so is quite a doable walk for moderate level hikers.
(Jug Handle Ecological Staircase-Mendocino Hike Notes were originally paired with the “Recalculating” Insights post.)
Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page. Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. Click World Walks to see or share favorite family-friendly walks! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. See products with inspiring designs that support the efforts of HikingAutism under Support/Shop. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links.
Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777
(scroll to bottom for photo gallery)
Location: Jug Handle State Natural Reserve, Adjacent to Hwy. 1, one mile north of Caspar (between the towns of Mendocino and Fort Bragg)
Starting Point: Jug Handle State Natural Reserve parking area, find trailhead sign
Info links:
For all web links, if a link doesn’t jump directly, copy and paste into browser.
Jug Handle State Natural Reserve information link (California State Parks):
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=441
Directions to Jug Handle State Natural Reserve link (California State Parks):
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=441
Jug Handle State Natural Reserve brochure link (California State Parks):
https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/441/files/JugHandleSNRFinalWebLayout2017.pdf
Map link:
Jug Handle Ecological Staircase Trail Map and Self Guided Nature Trail link (California State Parks):
https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/441/files/Jughandle_Brochuretas2016A.pdf
Distance:
The Jug Handle Ecological Staircase trail to the pygmy forest boardwalk is 2.5 miles. That means 2.5 miles back as well, for a total of 5 miles. We misread the brochure and sign info to think it was 2.5 miles round trip. Big difference!
Considerations:
• There is a disability accessible portable toilet at trailhead parking.
• Grab a trail map or Jug Handle info brochure if available, ahead of time if in a nearby town where travel brochures are on hand
• The self guided nature trail has numbered markers featuring trail highlights, but there were no trail guides available when we checked the bin at the start of our hike. Download the guide from the link above ahead of time if possible.
• Dogs are also allowed on the short headlands trail, but not on the beach or trails east of the bridge
• Pay attention to health and safety signs, including wildlife information signs.
• Always have sun protection and water
• Trail can be very muddy in wet season. Wear appropriate footwear and clothes.
• Trailhead sign says 0.5 miles for the headlands loop, and 2.5 miles for the ecological staircase. That means 2.5 miles in, and 2.5 miles out for a 5 mile round trip to do the full hike to the pygmy forest boardwalk area.
The trail:
The Jug Handle Ecological Staircase features a fascinating walk through geological history over five terraces, each representing 100,000 years of earth’s history. Hikers walk through varying mixtures of wetlands and north coast bluff scrub, Bishop pine forest, riparian river habitat, grand fir forest, coast redwood forest, and pygmy forest. Check the info links above for the more in-depth description.
There are good info signs at the parking lot, and brochures and trail guides are on offer in bins, but were empty on our visit. If one is available, take it for your hike and return it for others if you don’t need it. You can download the guide from the link above ahead of time (wish we had!).
Take the trail marked as 2.5 miles for the ecological staircase, but remember it’s 2.5 miles in, and another 2.5 miles back for a total of 5 miles. We misinterpreted the brochure and trailhead info initially and thought we were heading out for a 2.5 mile total.
The initial walk passes through some tree cover, including some photogenic tree tunnels. Watch for the trail marker that directs walkers to Jug Handle Beach, a sharp drop to the left as you’re facing the bridge that rises above the beach away from the ocean. The ecological staircase hike continues forward.
Walk under the bridge and continue on the trail. There’s a point where the trail breaks off to the left with a steep wooden staircase heading downward, or continues branching right. We took the right branch and hit a Private Property sign. Turns out you have to walk down the steep wooden staircase to get to the lower end of the natural ecological “staircase” of geological era terraces.
One of the early highlights on the hike is the footbridge in the riparian habitat area, with a lush sense of trees reflecting on water in an overgrown, enclosed environment. There are good informational signs about the riparian section here. A bit of a rising trail from here takes hikers onto a more open stretch of trail.
There are gradual changes from pine to fir and then redwood featured along the woodsy forest path that leads hikers to an open space under power lines. From the power lines there are a lot more redwoods for quite a stretch.
Hikers passing us on their return told us to keep a sense of the trail as there is a spot where hikers sometimes follow a wrong split in the trail, and it is not well marked. Even without the trail guide or map, we managed to follow the most well-travelled trail and did not go off track. Informational signs about the redwood forest, as well as the numbered markers for those following the self-guided nature trail indicate you’re on the main trail.
Eventually, the soft trail underfoot starts to turn pale and hard. This is where the soil became hardened and highly acidic, too harsh for healthy plant growth, thus leading to the stunted growth of the pygmy forest.
There are signs directing hikers to the boardwalk, which guides walkers through a significant section of the pygmy forest. Keep these signs and the intersecting service road in your mind for the return trip. One sign promises better trail signs coming soon, but keep your directional head on straight for a smooth return.
There is a handy resting and viewing area with more informational signs right in the heart of the pygmy forest area along the boardwalk.
After a water break on our hot sunny visit day, we enjoyed walking through the rest of the pygmy forest boardwalk. There’s a sense of walking through a bonsai tree forest, and the hard white ground gives an otherworldly feel to this area.
Once at the end of the boardwalk, a sign steers hikers back to the trail leading back. The redwoods, pine and fir were just as lovely going back, under different light from when we started, and the riparian habitat was a refreshing reminder that we were getting close to the trailhead again.
We saw families with fairly young kids doing this five-mile hike, and other than the initial stairs and a couple of sharper rises, this ecological “staircase” is a fairly smooth walk with gradual rises, so is quite a doable walk for moderate level hikers.
(Jug Handle Ecological Staircase-Mendocino Hike Notes were originally paired with the “Recalculating” Insights post.)
Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page. Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. Click World Walks to see or share favorite family-friendly walks! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. See products with inspiring designs that support the efforts of HikingAutism under Support/Shop. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links.
Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777
